Darkest Hour

them for Jerry to use.'

'Not to drive, Hep,' said Tanner, 'but as cover. Look at this place. It's flat as a pancake, and here's a long line of British Army trucks to help Jerry as he crawls up to the canal. Bloody hell, it's enough to make you weep. I tell you, there's not enough thinking ahead around here.'

Colonel Corner was waiting for them on the bridge, so the men were given the order to fall out along the road while the battalion OC had a conference with the company commanders. 'I don't suppose I'll be long, Sergeant,' said Peploe.

'All right, sir. We'll see if we can scrounge some ammo and supplies.'

Peploe nodded, then hurried off towards the bridge.

'All right, boys,' said Tanner, calling the company around him, 'have a quick dekko at these vehicles. Any weapons, ammo, grub - take 'em, all right?'

Most of the vehicles had been run off the road. Their engines had been wrecked, windscreens broken and tyres slashed, but while their former owners had been careful to make them unusable to the enemy, most seemed to have left on board whatever was there. By the time Peploe returned twenty minutes later, Tanner and Sykes had found two Brens and some crates of unopened ammunition. Several others had been equally successful.

'There's a stack of stuff here, sir.' Tanner grinned. 'Look at all this - and we've barely started.'

'We're going to need it, I think.' Peploe was grim- faced. 'We've just met up with Brigadier Beckwith-Smith - the chap commanding First Guards Brigade - and he announced to us that we were among the luckiest men in the British Army because we had been given the honour of being the rearguard here at Dunkirk.'

'And what did you say, sir? That it wasn't that great an honour?'

'No. I just swallowed hard and tried not to look as terrified as I felt.'

'What does it mean exactly?'

'That we've got to hold this line until we're told to do otherwise.'

'Christ. Sounds like a suicide job to me.'

'I don't know. I hope not. The Second Coldstream Guards will be on our right up to this bridge, the battalion's got fifteen hundred yards to the left of the bridge and then it's the First Duke of Wellington's - they're part of Third Brigade.'

'And what about the company?'

'I thought we might be amalgamated, but the colonel wants us to stay as we are. A Company's going to be next to the bridge, then us, then B Company. The bridge will be blown once the last stragglers are across but it's fairly obvious the enemy will concentrate on it, so we'll be supporting A Company's defence. We need to dig in and see what cover and observation points we can use. Battalion HQ will be with the Coldstreams at that windmill back there at Krommenhouck.' He pointed to it, standing out from the flat ground a mile or so to the north.

'And what about C Company and the rest of the missing men, sir?'

'The colonel was furious about that - and rather blaming the French for cutting across our withdrawal lines and mucking everything up in Poperinghe. Poor old French - everyone's got it in for them at the moment. Anyway, he wants to send someone into town to look for them. The obvious person is Captain Hillary, the OC of B Company, but the colonel wants a couple of men to go with him. Hillary said he'd rather not send his own chaps as he was undermanned. I said I'd send along a couple from D Company.'

'But how long will it take? Sir, we've got a job to do here. The Germans might arrive at any moment.'

Peploe shook his head. 'No one's expecting them until tomorrow, and even if things go disastrously wrong not until tonight. Don't forget the rest of Fifth Div are defending the Yser to the south of here and even then the Germans have got to pack up and follow us. I think we do have a bit of time to prepare, actually. And we're taking the OC's car, so it shouldn't take long to get there.'

Tanner thought for a moment, then said, 'Sir, let me go. I'll take Sykes.'

'I'd rather have you here, overseeing things.'

'Sir, please. I'd like to get a look at the lie of the land. If we do eventually fall back, it'll probably be during the night so a bit of orientation will come in handy.'

Peploe screwed up his face. 'Oh, all right,' he said eventually. 'But try not to be too long.' He pointed out Captain Hillary, who was talking with one of his lieutenants beside the bridge. 'You'd better go and speak to him now.'

Tanner nodded and looked about for Sykes.

'And, Sergeant,' said Peploe, 'what are your thoughts about our position?'

'Some kind of building would be useful. We can use it as an OP.' He glanced along the canal bank. 'There's a few cottages along there. Then it's a question of digging in. We've been lucky with the soil so far and I reckon it'll be good along here too - nice and easy to dig out. But, sir,' he added, 'we need to stockpile stores. We need some men digging in and others scrounging for supplies.'

Peploe clasped his shoulder. 'Thanks, Tanner. That sounds like good advice. Good luck - and if you see Blackstone or Slater, make sure you take them straight to redcaps.'

Tanner grinned. So the lieutenant guessed. He grabbed Sykes and they hurried over to Captain Hillary, a tall man, with a square, clean-shaven face - one of the few in the battalion to have shaved over the past couple of days. 'This is awfully good of you both,' he said amiably. 'I'm afraid it'll be rather a bore.'

Taking the car, they drove through the fields and network of dykes and canals towards Dunkirk, passing reams of soldiers heading for the coast. Some still looked fit and spry but many more trudged northwards, heads down, with various pieces of equipment and uniform missing. Aircraft droned overhead, and even from the confines of the car they could hear bombs falling and exploding beyond the town. The pall of smoke still hung heavily over the darkened buildings.

The town was a wreck. Broken and abandoned vehicles were everywhere. Tram wires lay twisted and curling